The members of the North Shore Homelessness Task Force are issuing a call to community members to take action to help make this year’s annual Homelessness Action Week a success.
The task force was founded in 1998 and is composed of municipal employees, representatives of Vancouver Coastal Health and service providers, faith community members, law enforcement personnel and community members at large who work together to find solutions to end homelessness on the North Shore.
“The people around the table are incredible people that are very passionate about trying to make a difference in our community,” says task force co-ordinator Lynne Henshaw. “That continues to inspire me to do the work that I do. … I would like to see an answer. What are our solutions? How can we push forward? How can we make life better for everyone on the North Shore and continue to make the North Shore a diverse community where everyone has a place they can call home?”
Members of the task force organize a number of local events surrounding Homelessness Action Week, running Oct. 10 to 15, with Connect Day serving as the biggest. Last year’s event saw more than 145 people attend.
This year’s Connect Day is being held Thursday, Oct. 13 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at John Braithwaite Community Centre. The annual event brings a variety of health and social services under one roof, offering an opportunity for community members of all ages experiencing homelessness, who are at risk or have low incomes to access personal care as well as be connected to useful resources and information.
Typically the task force attracts approximately 30 community volunteers for the event.
“This year I’m down about 10. I really need more volunteers,” says Henshaw. “We welcome anyone, you don’t need experience working with homeless people or at-risk people. We do a training to orient people of what goes on,” she says, adding high school students to seniors are welcome to lend a hand.
Available services and information being offered at this year’s event include a health clinic, foot care, flu vaccines, hearing and lung testing, haircuts, housing outreach, income tax help, and employment, counselling, mental health, drug and alcohol, and smoking cessation programs. “It’s just a plethora of things that people can access,” says Henshaw.
Breakfast and lunch will be served and participants will also be able to take home clothing vouchers and comfort kits containing a variety of useful items. Community members are encouraged to drop off items to be added to this year’s stock of comfort kits, made possible thanks to corporate donors. While 150 kits have been assembled, more new and unused hygiene products, like soap, shampoo and toothpaste, can still be dropped off at the Lookout Emergency Aid Society’s North Shore Shelter.
The task force is also looking for socks as part of its annual Homelessness Action Week Winter Sock Drive.
“That’s a big issue. A lot of people if they’re only getting around on foot and they’re out in the elements in the wet, it actually leads to serious health issues,” says Henshaw.
New socks, as well as general clothing donations, can be dropped off at the North Shore Shelter or Lions Gate Hospital until Oct. 10.
An additional way community members can get involved in this year’s Homelessness Action Week is to make an effort to learn more about local homelessness.
“Housing has gotten more and more expensive on the North Shore. Homelessness continues to be an issue,” says Henshaw, adding B.C. Housing waitlists and data from non-profit organizations demonstrate that residents are continuing to find it extremely difficult to secure stable, affordable housing in North and West Vancouver, citing a recently updated document, Housing Vulnerable Populations on the North Shore.
Other activities being offered on the North Shore as part of this year’s Homelessness Action Week include Thanksgiving and community dinners, and a Flicks and Forum event at the Ambleside Youth Centre Oct. 13 at 6 p.m., featuring the documentary Four Feet Up by Nance Ackerman, as well as a youth street soccer exhibition game Oct. 15 at 1:15 p.m. at North Shore Neighbourhood House, both of which are open to the public.
For full details on this year’s North Shore Homelessness Action Week, visit northshorehomelessness.org.
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Representatives of the Lookout Emergency Aid Society are presenting their eighth annual H’Arts for the Homeless Benefit and Awards on Thursday, October 6 at 6 p.m. at The Imperial on Main Street in Vancouver.
Funds raised at this year’s benefit, featuring an array of art, music, performance and dance, will support food security and supplement the society’s food programs, according to a written statement from Lookout, which operates the North Shore Shelter in North Vancouver.
Talent at this year’s event includes live painters Bill Higginson and Donna Giraud, David C. Jones who will lead a live auction, Wayne Stewart, the evening’s MC, event co-ordinator and soloist Deanna Knight, and The Ladies in White circus and spectacle.
For tickets, $60 each, or 10 for $500, and info, visit lookoutsociety.ca.
